09/09/12 The Darkest Period: November 26 to January 21

From November 26th to January 21st of the 2011-12 season the Oilers played a block of games that defined their season. They had a record of 5-18-2. It was their worst stretch of the year, so what the heck happened?

08/25/12 Point Production By Age and the Implications For Edmonton

At what age do players peak in the NHL? At what age do they begin to decline? These are questions that will be important to the Oilers in years to come. Though at the moment there's nowhere to go but up, eventually the window will close. How much time do the Oilers have?

05/03/12 Why The Powerplay Improved

One year after finishing 27th on the powerplay with just 14.5% efficiency, the Oilers jumped all the way to 3rd in the NHL with the extra man. So how did this happen? What players were added to the powerplay who weren't there before, and how were they used?

04/25/12 Rookie Report Card: Nugent-Hopkins

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins proved a lot of people wrong in his first NHL season, showing that he could handle the size, strength and speed of the league. It's impossible to know how many points he might have collected if he had stayed healthy, but the early returns from the first overall pick are strong. It's only that injury and our inability as fans to see how he could handle a full 82 games that can be a knock, which is why I'll give him an A- grade.

The ability to understand the quality of Nugent-Hopkins' season requires that we give it some context. Scoring 52 points as a rookie is great, but fourteen other first year players have accomplished that feat since the lockout. What's impressive is how little time it took.

The Nuge is is ninth in points per game by all rookies since the lockout and eighth in assists per game. His name appears on the points list ahead of players like Ryan Getzlaf, Matt Duchene, John Tavares and Thomas Vanek; and he's right up there with Jonathan Toews. The main difference is that RNH was only 18 years old all season. As I looked at in the Prediction Recaps, Nugent-Hopkins posted the second-highest points per game mark as an 18 year old rookie since the lockout.

Number four on that list is another Oiler: Sam Gagner. Gagner posted 0.62 points per game to Nugent-Hopkins' 0.84, but the differences go beyond that. When comparing their two rookie campaigns we can see the difference between a first and sixth overall pick.

Gagner 2007-08:


- 79 games played, 13G-26A-49PTS
- PP TOI per game: 2:48
- Powerplay points: 6-6-12
- TOI per game: 15:40
- TOI per point: 27:25
- Game winners: 0

Nugent-Hopkins 2011-12:


- 62 games played, 18G-34A-52PTS
- PP TOI per game: 3:00
- Powerplay points: 3-20-23
- TOI per game: 17:36
- TOI per point: 20:59
- Game winners: 2

I threw the game winners in there because it's fun, not because it's an actual measure of the talent of the two players, but the other stats are interesting. Nugent-Hopkins played considerably more at even strength than Gagner at 18, because neither played shorthanded and only 12 seconds is made up in powerplay TOI. But we'll deal with the even strength minutes in a moment; the powerplay points are the interesting part of these stats. With a very similar amount of powerplay ice time per game, Nugent-Hopkins blew Gagner's numbers out of the water. It's even more astounding when you take the games played into account. Gagner played 79 games, and therefore spent 221:38 on the powerplay as a rookie, while in 62 games Nugent-Hopkins collected almost twice as many points in just 186:45.

As for 5x5, both players were sheltered as rookies in zone starts and quality of competition (though RNH was moreso on the former point), but the Nuge had 29 even strength points (0.47/game) to Gagner's 35 (0.44/game). Gagner was minus-21 on a poor team, and RNH was minus-2 on a terrible team.

You might be worried that Nugent-Hopkins could pull a Gagner and never return to the kind of heights that he reached as a rookie, but there's little cause for alarm. Gagner has always been a streaky player who rides waves of unsustainable percentages, as we see even when we look at his rookie scoring by month. During the month of February, Gagner scored 9-9-18 in just 13 games, which padded his final totals enormously. He was a 0.47 p/g player the rest of the year, but in that one month he scored at a clip of 1.38 p/g.

Nugent-Hopkins started strong but his plateau wasn't wildly below the true point total we saw him finish with. He ended with 0.84 points per game, and his worst month (December) saw him collect 0.66 p/g.

But it's not just Gagner who we can compare the Nuge to. What about the other rookies from this 2011-12 crop?

RNH was tied for first in points, fourth in goals, second in assists, 8th in powerplay goals, 7th in shots, and did it all while collecting only 16 PIMs. Those are impressive numbers when you factor in age, games played and the fact that the Oilers were 29th. Fellow rookie Gabriel Landeskog - the player tied for first in points by rookies - not only played 20 more games than Nugent-Hopkins, he also played nearly 460 more minutes. That's more than 40% more total ice time.

What about that sky-high shooting percentage from early in the season? It came down to earth at 13.4%, which is still high but not outlandish. He was on pace for 177 shots, which would make for around 16 goals at league average shooting percentage in 2011-12 (8.94%).

Now he's headed to the Worlds. Nugent-Hopkins is a special player and he showed it all year. It'll be a long wait to see him and the rest of the Oilers' young talent get back at it.

04/23/12 Pre-Season Prediction Recap Part Three

Another day, another set of questions to look back on. A lot can change from the pre-season onward, but so far these predictions have been fairly close. In the crystal ball today:


Q: Which player with less than 30 NHL games will play the most in 2011-12?


A: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.


Simple, and to the point. Nugent-Hopkins had a terrific 62 game rookie season. His 0.84 points per game is second among all 18 year old rookies since the lockout. Only Sidney Crosby was better at such a young age. The next-closest player, Jeff Skinner, scored 0.77 points per game as an 18 year old, but RNH is well clear of him. It's worth noting also that Crosby's number (1.26 points per game) puts him well clear of absolutely everyone else.

There were some surprises in this category, too. Corey Potter, Lennart Petrell, and Anton Lander all saw significant action this past season despite an extreme lack of experience from all three. In fact, only Potter had any NHL games under his belt at all, but they combined for 178 games with the Oilers in 2011-12. Potter and Lander figure to be part of the future, and Petrell was fine in his role. Colten Teubert got into 24 games as well, which is one shy of this qualifying as his rookie year.

Q: Which of the PP and PK is most likely to improve?


A: The powerplay will improve because all of the Oilers' offensive contributors will be a year more experienced and thus faster in their decision making. Also, the best players that have been added over the last number of years are all offensive-minded. Getting Hemsky and Whitney back healthy will help a lot, and so will Nugent-Hopkins if he makes the team. Penalty killing is a bit more cerebral, since it's play away from the puck. The Oilers don't have enough experience to be very good at it just yet.


This one is interesting, because both special teams improved by leaps and bounds over the 2010-11 season. The PK went from 29th at 77% (74 goals against) to 14th at 82.8% (52 goals against). They allowed 22 less goals while killing penalties season over season, despite the fact that Devan Dubnyk's shorthanded save pecentage (0.862) was 63rd in the league and Khabibulin's 0.889 was 53rd.

The top eight penalty killers were Smid, Horcoff, Schultz/Gilbert, Jones, Belanger, Petry, Smyth and Peckham; which was quite different than the group they used in 2010-11. That year the eight most oft used penalty killers were Gilbert, Cogliano, Smid, Peckham, Fraser, Jones, Reddox and Vandermeer. Not one of the 2010-11 group had a faceoff winning percentage north of 50%, and Cogliano led the team in draws taken but won just 41.6% of them. Smyth, Petry and especially Belanger and Horcoff made a big difference here. I personally never saw it coming that Smyth would have such an impact on the PK because he wasn't used as a penalty killer at all in LA. His veteran savvy helped with some of the decision making that occurred while down a man.

As for the powerplay, it improved from 27th at 14.5% (44 goals for) to 3rd at 20.6% (54 goals for). Like the PK, a six percent increase in powerplay efficiency is huge, and it probably should have contributed to more wins than it did. The top ten players used on the powerplay were Eberle, Horcoff, Smyth, Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Gagner, Potter, Hemsky, Whitney and Petry. Tom Gilbert was also a fixture on the PP before being traded. Last year the powerplay men were Foster, Gilbert, Gagner, Hall, Eberle, Hemsky, Whitney, Paajarvi, Omark and Horcoff.

Gone was the wildly ineffective Kurtis Foster, while Paajarvi and Omark lost their spots to powerplay whiz Nugent-Hopkins and wily veteran Ryan Smyth. RNH added 23 powerplay points in just 62 games, which put him in a tie with ten players for 24th in the NHL. More than anything, the emergence of Hall (21 pp points) and Eberle (20 pp points) as well as adding the Nuge put the powerplay over the top.

The powerplay improved by 24 spots in the overall standings, while the penalty kill climbed 15 spots. Both were much better, but the edge goes to the powerplay.

Q: How many games will Yann Danis start?


A: Three; the same as Martin Gerber. Even if one of Dubnyk or Khabibulin suffers a ten-to-fifteen game injury, Danis won't be pushed ahead of the $3.75 million man or the youngster who needs experience.


Actually, Danis didn't start any games this season, but he did play 32 minutes in a relief effort on February 29th. Two goals got past him on 12 shots, good for a 0.833 Sv%. Once the goaltending was back to full strength Danis was sent back to the farm, where he's been the best goalie in the AHL this season.

Q: Will Khabibulin spend any time in OKC this season or next?


A: If Khabibulin spends any time in OKC it will be next year. If the Oilers were to sign a goalie like Vokoun or Rinne after the season then Khabibulin will be headed south for the winter. Otherwise, management will probably ride it out and wait for Bunz.


Obviously, Khabibulin didn't spend any time in Oklahoma City this year even though his numbers in the latter half of the season were bad enough that he probably deserved to. Pekka Rinne is off the market, which is probably a good thing considering that he got a huge extension at $7 million per year. That kind of contract would be ugly in Edmonton. Tomas Vokoun had a decidedly underwhelming season in Washington, posting his worst save percentage since before the lockout. On the other hand, that save percentage (0.917) is right in line with his career number and it's still better than what the Oilers got from either of their two goalies this year. Signing him in the off season would be extremely risky, however, as he is over 35.

One last year of Khabibulin would seem to be in the cards, so he'll need to be in a greatly reduced role. If he somehow stays respectable, maybe he can be traded at the deadline. Either way the odyssey is almost over.

Next time:

Which Western Conference team is most likely to be worse than the Oilers in 2011-12?
Where do you think the Oilers will finish this season?
Will Ales Hemsky be traded, or will the Oilers re-sign him?

03/25/12 Odds & Ends: Calgary, Standings, Dubnyk

Sunday's win over Columbus brings the Oilers up to 31 wins on the season, and extends a streak over the last 11 games which has seen them go 6-2-3. The implications of this run are many, but are they a harbinger of things to come? Time will tell. For now, however, improved play from the Oilers means the following:

- The Oilers have caught up to the Minnesota Wild in wins on the season and they have 26 Regulation or Overtime Wins (ROW) to the Wild's 23. The Oilers have played one more game than Minny has, but when the Wild were on top of the Conference they had 20 wins to the Oilers' 14, and Edmonton was sitting in 13th place. The Wild are 3-7-0 in their last ten games, and if things continue this way it's a good bet that they'll finish behind the Oilers.

- Speaking of finishing behind the Oilers, the Calgary Flames could still be a candidate for that if it wasn't for the loser point. The Flames have lost five straight after a five game win streak, and now sit with 34 wins on the season - just three more than the Oilers have collected. Even if the Flames finish a few wins ahead of the Oilers, that has to be viewed as an unacceptable result for Flames fans that were guaranteed playoffs before the season. The Oilers will have a tough time catching the Flames in the standings thanks to Calgary having 6 more points from OT/Shootout losses, but the win column is still within striking distance.

The Flames get the Stars, Kings, Avalanche, Ducks and Canucks twice in their final six; and all of those teams save the Ducks should be highly motivated. The Oilers get the Kings and Ducks twice, along with the Stars and Canucks. Not an easy game in the bunch for Edmonton, but the team has been playing much better lately and they might surprise one or two of those teams.

If the Oilers can take a record of 3-2-1 out of those last six games it would give them a record of 9-4-4 in their last 17. That's actually better than the way their started the season, when the went 9-6-2 in their first 17.

- A big reason for the reemergence of the Oilers is the play of Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk has won 9 of his last 13 starts and he's owned a 0.933 Sv% over that time. On the whole, his save percentage is sitting at 0.914 on the season. Make no mistake: that's starting goalie territory. Of goalies who have played 40 or more games this season, Dubnyk's save percentage ranks 17th right now. Some notables below him in that category include Antti Niemi, Craig Anderson, Jonas Hiller, Cam Ward, Ilya Bryzgalov and Martin Brodeur. Of course, this doesn't mean that Dubnyk is a lock to be a starting goaltender in the future, but the indications are that he is giving his team as much of a chance to win as these other goalies; many of whom are backstopping far superior groups. At one time I found Dubnyk to be the most disappointing Oiler of 2011-12, and now he's become one of their strengths.

- With two assists on Sunday afternoon, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has re-taken the rookie scoring lead in the NHL with 49 points in 56 games. Gabriel Landeskog went on a bit of a tear recently and yet his 48 points have come in 77 games with Colorado. It's been said before and deserves to be said again: if Nugent-Hopkins hadn't been injured there would be no debate about rookie of the year honors. It may not factor into the final decision in Calder voting, but Landeskog was thought to be the most NHL-ready prospect available at the draft, while Nugent-Hopkins wasn't even supposed to make the Oilers in the eyes of many. His performance speaks for itself.

- The Oilers are within 4 or fewer points of the Wild, Islanders, Leafs, Ducks, Hurricanes and Lightning in league standings right now. If a few of those teams fall off and the Oilers continue to roll, they could find themselves on the outside of the NHL Draft Lottery. Time will tell if that's a good thing or bad thing, but it may reduce the conflict about drafting a defenseman this year. Start getting familiar with names like Reinhart, Murray, Dumba, Trouba, Rielly, and Ceci, because they could all be in the conversation from 3-10 overall.

02/05/12 Signs of Progress?

There are 30 games left on the schedule for the Oilers' 2011-12 season, and plenty of questions to be asked about how things are going. There have been a lot of criticisms, and long stretches of the year have been a struggle. But are things getting better? Below is a look at a few key areas after 52 games.

Let's start with the team record. The Oilers are currently sitting at 21-26-5 with 47 points. After 52 games in 2010-11 they were 15-29-8 with 38 points. The Oilers had 38 points after 52 games in 2009-10 as well, with a record of 16-30-6. That's 38 of a possible 104 points, while this year they've collected 47 of a possible 104.

The improvement isn't staggering, and it isn't going to cause anyone to jump out of their seats, but isn't that exactly the kind of marginal push forward that we all expected?

The Oilers' worst stretch of games this season were from November 26th to January 21st, where they went 5-18-2 in a 25 game span. They were without Ryan Whitney, Cam Barker, Tom Gilbert, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Corey Potter for all or part of that time. Hall was the quickest of the group to return, having missed 8 games including the one against Colorado where the injury occurred. Jordan Eberle was also out for 5 games in that downswing for the Oilers (including the one against Dallas), and in those games the Oil were 1-3-1. Without Hall the Oilers were 2-5-1.

It's a familiar tune from me at this point, but the Oilers aren't deep enough to be able to sustain those kinds of injuries at once at still remain competitive. Is there any team that could?

After 52 games last year the Oilers had:

- scored 113 goals
- allowed 173 goals against
- a goal differential of -60
- scored 23 powerplay goals
- allowed 50 powerplay goals against

Despite the injuries, this year they have:

- scored 135 goals (+22 over last year)
- allowed 148 goals against (+25 over last year)
- a goal differential of -13 (+47 over last year)
- scored 43 powerplay goals (+20 over last year)
- allowed 34 powerplay goals against (+16 over last year)

Obviously there's also the offensive strides taken by the Oilers' young, talented stars. Jordan Eberle has already eclipsed his team-leading 43 points from last season and is on pace for a lot more. It stands to reason that no fewer than five Oilers players will put up more than 43 points; including Gagner, Smyth, Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle.

This is still a team in 28th place in the NHL and there are still plenty of holes to fill, but there are signs that this thing has started to come around. When you're starting at the bottom that's not an especially difficult goal to accomplish, however. What this data shows is only that the team is improving, but there's a long way to go before we can think about Stanley.

06/12/11 37.0 Who Else Could the Oilers Get in the Top Ten?

With all of the rumors swirling about the Oilers trying to get another top ten pick (and for once a couple of teams that might be willing to trade out of the top ten), it's time to look at what players might drop to #8 or #9 overall. Obviously the Columbus Blue Jackets are willing to trade the 8th overall pick, but the Boston Bruins might also part with #9 - especially if they don't win the cup - to improve immediately.

Those are really the only picks that are available inside the first ten selections. In the case of both teams, what they will want from the Oilers is Ales Hemsky. Any other trade is not likely to get it done, aside from moving the 1st overall pick in some way, which would be a mistake. As we have seen recently, the Blue Jackets have interest in #83, but the Bruins would also love to have him come on board and help out their lifeless powerplay. If they lose in the Final, it will be plainly obvious that the powerplay is the biggest reason that the Bruins didn't win the Stanley Cup. If Mark Recchi retires, Hemsky would be even more desirable to Boston.

That being the case, the Oilers would need to have a player drop to at least number 8 who they simply couldn't pass up. For the moment, Hemsky is still the most dangerous offensive threat the Oilers have, so to trade him would take a player that is truly going to be special and impactful, and it would have to get the team further along. Here is a list of the highest ranked prospects in this year's draft class that the Oilers would really want, and the likelihood that they will drop to 8th overall.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is almost certainly an Oiler after going 1st overall. If for some reason the Oilers don't take him, there's no chance that he'll drop as far as 8.

Jonathan Huberdeau will likely go to the Avalanche. Huberdeau plays left wing in junior and the Avs are weak at that position. Almost no chance that he drops past #2, and no chance at all that he drops to #8.

With those two out of the way, things start to open up a little.

Sean Couturier: The Florida Panthers have taken a defenceman with their first pick in 3 of the last 4 drafts. Two of those players are in the NHL and Erik Gudbranson should be there soon. The Panthers need help up front. Probably the best all-around player left at forward is Couturier, who Florida could snap up.

If not, it will probably be Landeskog. In that case, Couturier could slip past the Devils at #4 if they take Adam Larsson and he could get by the Islanders if they take a defenceman like Hamilton. However, he is unlikely to get past Ottawa and Winnipeg since both of those teams need help at forward. Couturier could be Winnipeg's franchise center, and they wouldn't let him get by them. In addition, if Couturier did slip to 8th overall, Columbus might prefer to simply select him instead of making a trade.

Adam Larsson might get by Florida, but the Devils need help on defence in a bad way. Larsson could help anchor their blue line for years. If he gets by the Devils, then the Islanders will probably take him since they would have the chance to get the big Swedish defenceman that they had to pass on to select Tavares first overall in 2009. Larsson has too many tools to slip too far in this draft. Last year when Cam Fowler dropped, it was probably because he is a tad one-dimensional and perhaps not thought of as NHL ready. Many teams are regretting not taking Fowler now, and Larsson is more of a complete defender. Very little chance that he drops to number 8.

Gabriel Landeskog could fall a few spots in this draft because of his offense not being what one might expect from a high-end prospect. Florida and New Jersey could easily let him go by, and the Islanders probably could as well. If Ottawa and Winnipeg are looking for more of a pure offensive threat, they could pass on Landeskog as well. But if the Oilers trade Ales Hemsky so they can select Landeskog, do they really get themselves much further ahead? What the Oilers lose in offense from Hemsky they gain in drive and leadership from Landeskog, but probably not for a number of years. Landeskog could be there at #8, but the move doesn't necessarily make sense.

Dougie Hamilton is the second best defenceman available in the eyes of many scouts. He'll have to get by the Devils and Islanders, who need defensive help, but if he does he could easily be on the board at 8th or even 9th overall. Neither Boston or Columbus would rather have him over Hemsky, and the Oilers might be better off having Hamilton help anchor the backend. This is a move that could make a lot of long-term sense.

From 3-7, Florida, Ottawa and Winnipeg will probably all want forwards, which is why Ryan Strome likely won't drop past them. Landeskog, Couturier and Strome are the 3 best available after RNH and Huberdeau, so unless there's a Jeff Skinner type of surprise out there, Strome will be gone by the time the 8th pick is made.

Ryan Murphy is the type of player that could make things very interesting. There's every chance that he'll be around at 8 or 9 overall. Murphy is one-dimensional, but the Oilers could use a pure scoring defenceman. Essentially trading Hemsky for Murphy might seem like a bad idea, but it would give the Oilers a more well-rounded offensive attack.

Nathan Beaulieu, Duncan Siemens and Zack Phillips are all likely to be available at 8th and 9th overall, but they could also drop further to the middle of the first round. Those three represent the last players that are really worth trading up to get, but not necessarily by trading Ales Hemsky. The Oilers might be able to get them at 19th overall, or trade a lesser asset and the 19th pick to move up a few spots and snag one of them. The fact that the Oilers have another mid first-round pick means that there isn't much need to trade up to take any of the other players in round one since the talent level basically levels off with all of them.

***

There's a realistic chance that Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Murphy could be around at 8th or 9th, and those two players would be who the Oilers might want to target. Only those two are worth trading a player of Hemsky's ilk. However, the draft is always full of surprises and the Oilers won't hesistate to trade Hemsky if Larsson falls to the 8th or 9th spot. Couturier might also be worth Hemsky in the long run, so if he somehow falls then the Oilers may go after him; but in that case Columbus and Boston might take their chances with simply drafting him.

If one of those four drops to 8th or 9th overall, expect the Oilers to move heaven and earth to get them.

06/04/11 11.4 Odds & Ends: Richards, Malhotra, Pisani

Brad Richards

The Dallas Stars won't be re-signing marquee center Brad Richards. With the ownership situation in Dallas still up in the air, the team has all but closed the door on the return of their best player. Richards has been through some interesting ownership groups in Tampa in the past, and therefore stable owners are something that this year's biggest free agent covets. Former Lightning owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules were a major part of the reason that Richards was traded out of Tampa Bay in the first place, so expect him to sign in a city where he can expect to stay.

To all the Oiler fans who think maybe Richards would come to Edmonton: don't bet on it. Richards is 31 years old, and he'll be looking for a situation where he can get paid and have a chance to win. Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini has stated that the team isn't in the market for the big-ticket free agent right now, and the Oilers certainly aren't in a position to win. There's little to no chance that Brad Richards will sign here.

The same might not also be true for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brian Burke knows that a number one center is first on his wish list this off season, so the Leafs GM may be putting together a hefty offer for Richards right now.

Whatever the offer, it will have to be bigger than what the New York Rangers have, because Glen Sather is apparently going to be right in the thick of things come July 1st. Rangers coach John Tortorella is very familiar with Richards since they won a Cup together in 2004 (over Calgary; just had to mention that part). Also, the retirement of Brian Rafalski leaves a large hole on Detroit's blueline, but an even larger hole in their payroll. Detroit and LA will probably make serious pushes for Richards' services.

If one of those four teams trades for Richards' rights (essentially the right to negotiate with him on a contract before July 1st), there's a good chance that he will sign there. Because the of the shallow free agent pool and the interest in Richards, the trade for his rights may be somewhat more significant than what one might expect. Still not a big trade, obviously, but perhaps bigger than what's warranted given the circumstances.

Some Other Headlines:

- Winnipeg fans didn't waste any time buying up all the remaining season tickets once they went on sale to the general public. In fact, they sold in just 4 minutes. The drive for 13,000 was completed in only 3 days, which is 17 days before the NHL board of governors will vote on the sale of the Thrashers to Winnipeg's True North group. If it hadn't been for a cap on how many seats that Manitoba Moose season seat holders could buy (or if seats had been sold to the general public from day one), the goal could probably have been reached even sooner. It's a solid showing from fans who lost a team once and don't want to leave anything to chance when it comes to bringing the team back. More than that, though, it shows the passion of the hockey fans in Winnipeg. There's no doubt that the MTS Centre will be sold out all of next season, but now it seems as though it would have been wise to build it for more than 15,000 spectators. If things continue as is, the organization will undoubtedly have to add seats if at all possible.

Phoenix is obviously still in dire financial straights, and the strong showing from Winnipeg fans will only encourage the NHL to move poor-performing American teams north of the border if they have the opportunity in the future.

- The NHL combine wrapped up yesterday and Nugent-Hopkins didn't hurt his case for going first overall. Here's the results of some of the kids who the Oilers might take at 19 or 31 overall who finished well in combine events:

Winterhawks forward Ty Rattie tied for first in the dreaded Wingate Peak Power-Output Test, which measures how hard a prospect can go for a 30 second stretch. Rattie is ranked 17th among North Americans by Central Scouting and scored 28-51-79 in 67 WHL games.

Defenseman David Musil finished tied for first in the VO2 Max test at 14 minutes. He was tied with Adam Larsson in this test, and may have helped move himself up the rankings somewhat. Musil is ranked 38th in Central Scouting's list of North Americans.

Travis Ewanyk of the Oil Kings finished tied for second in the long jump at 115 inches.

Thomas Jurco was in a 3-way tie for first in the bench press (150 pounds) with 13 reps. Monster defenseman Jamieson Oleksiak was in a 3-way tie for second with 12.

Mark McNeill (6'2", 210 lbs) was clearly the greatest physical specimen of the combine, who won the grip test, tied for a win in the bench press, and won the push/pull strength test outright. McNeill had 366 pounds of push strength, which beat out the much larger Jamieson Oleksiak (6'7", 240 lbs). Only Tyler Biggs was close with 323 pounds. Winning 3 of 11 events that are done by 102 prospects is huge for McNeill.

- Everyone is happy to see Manny Malhotra back in the lineup for the Stanley Cup Final. The former 7th overall pick has paid his dues and has moved around among contenders for the last two years. This could be his year to win it all, and it would be that much sweeter given the potentially career-ending surgery he has gone through.

- Fernando Pisani is coming back to Edmonton to support a Crohn's and Colitis golf tournament. It's hard for fans to imagine how the hero of the 2006 Cup run could be too weak to go up the stairs in his own home, but that is the nature of the disease. When I first heard of Pisani's illness it didn't strike a chord. I had no idea how draining, debilitating and downright painful the disease could be. All of that changed when I was diagnosed with it in early 2009. Pisani serves as a beacon to those who are afflicted with Crohn's and Colitis, because it would require a great commitment from him to continue to participate in a gruelling and phsyical sport in spite of his illness. Please help to support efforts to find a cure whenever you can, and cheer for Fernando Pisani no matter who he plays for.

Pisani recently did an interview with The Team 1260's Jason Gregor. Listen to it here:

http://www.jasongregor.com/radio_shows/burrows-bite-nhl-draft-canadian-basketball-fernando-pisani/show_clips/fernando-pisani-former-oiler